Texas Insider

By Aman Batheja, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

Elected officials — Democrats and Republicans — have been routinely and loudly booed at Tea Party rallies and other conservative events over the past year.  But as area activists try to turn that anger into action, they are setting their sights on fellow Republicans more than Democrats.  

Members of several local conservative groups that formed last year are focusing on a handful of Republican primary races in the hope of moving the party in a more conservative direction.

“The Tea Partiers, the 912ers and the Libertarians all need to come together and work together,” said Adrian Murray, an organizer with the 912 Project Fort Worth. “It’s the outcome of those primaries that are going to determine what kind of support the Republican Party gets” in November.

They aren’t endorsing candidates, but the anti-incumbent sentiment at rallies last year was palpable and is playing a role in local races. Several Republican challengers in races for Congress and the state Legislature say their appeal to those protesters fed up with the status quo will lead them to a primary win in March.

“A lot of people think that these are Republican groups, but they’re not. They’re actually as mad at Republicans as they are Democrats,” said conservative activist Bill Burch, who is running against former Arlington City Councilwoman Barbara Nash in the Republican primary for the state House seat held by Rep. Paula Pierson, D-Arlington.

Catching fire
The Tea Party movement and the 912 Project caught fire locally and across the county in 2009, with conservatives flocking to rallies to protest runaway federal spending and, more broadly, a Washington, D.C.-based approach to government.

When thousands of sign-waving activists attended a 912 Project rally in downtown Fort Worth in September, Murray was greeted with cheers as he promised that their discontent would be felt at the ballot box in 2010.

Three months later, at a meeting in east Fort Worth, Murray told over 100 attendees that they would target several GOP primary races but not take sides, in part to preserve their nonprofit status.

“Our focus has to be on getting conservative candidates into office and stopping this rush toward Marxism in Washington,” Murray said.

This new crop of local grassroots conservatives is concentrating mostly on area races for Congress and the state Legislature, but the impact could reach far past North Texas. In Austin, Democrats are trying to erase the Republicans’ 77-73 edge in the House. Nationwide, Republicans hope to regain control of Congress.

State Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, is defending her seat in one of the most crowded legislative primary races in Texas. Two of her three primary challengers have ties to the local Tea Party movement.

Civil engineer Rich DeOtte said he was inspired to run after seeing the passion at local conservative rallies last year and aims to represent that contingent if elected.

“I think I’ve detected no small antagonism between our incumbent Vicki Truitt and those people,” DeOtte said. “I think she’s out of touch with those voters, and I think they need to have a voice.”

Giovanni Capriglione, a private equity professional, has attended several Tea Party events in recent months but said his campaign is not about piggybacking on a movement.

“I’m not trying to court only the Tea Party vote,” he said. “I’m going door by door.  . . . Our job is to represent everybody.”

Systems engineer Diane Thorpe said she plans to introduce herself to local conservative grassroots groups during her campaign.

Truitt did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

‘Mixed blessing’
While the spotlight is on the primary for now, it remains unclear what these grassroots activists will do if a Republican deemed insufficiently conservative wins the party’s nomination.

“I would think it’s a mixed blessing for the Republican Party,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “If [activists] think that the two main party candidates aren’t sufficiently conservative, they’ll mount a party challenge.”

He pointed to a special congressional election in New York in November in which grassroots conservatives, unhappy with the Republican candidate, backed a third-party candidate instead. In the end, a Democrat won the district for the first time since the Civil War.

Representatives from local Tea Party groups and the 912 Project Fort Worth say they will remain nonpartisan while encouraging voters to back candidates who support certain principles, including limited government and personal liberty.

“There’s nothing more powerful, we feel, than an informed voter,” said Angela Cox, founder of the Burleson Tea Party.

John Spivey, Tarrant County Libertarian Party chairman, said many Tea Party and 912 Project members lean Libertarian and predicted that they will support the GOP only if Republican incumbents are replaced in the primary with “true conservatives.”

“I’m looking forward to post-primary that we may see some support from them for some of our candidates,” Spivey said.

Leaders with the 912 Project Fort Worth and the Burleson Tea Party expressed doubt that supporting third-party candidates is a viable option.

Burch predicted that conservative grassroots voters would support the Republican ticket no matter who wins the primary.

“If they make it through the primary, your choice is no longer for the individual,” Burch said. “Your choice is . . . freedom or socialism.”

abatheja@star-telegram.com